


smother me

by shamnesiac



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Flirting, M/M, prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-12
Updated: 2020-01-12
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:13:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22224670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shamnesiac/pseuds/shamnesiac
Summary: Leon is an idiot, and starts flirting with Hop mid-battle. Hop reacts to it. Leon goes into a tizzy because of it.
Relationships: Dande | Leon/Hop
Comments: 5
Kudos: 78





	smother me

Leon’s Aegislash lets out a piercing cry as it’s hoisted upwards, off the stadium grounds in Snorlax’s grip. The massive creature’s claws sink into its leathery midsection and hold it like a vice, shockingly nimble for a Pokémon so widely considered as lazy. 

“You’ve been training it, haven’t you?” Leon queries, his words an amalgam of nerves and gleaming pride. “It shows.”

Across the stadium, the once-Champion’s brother preens discreetly under the praise. “You haven’t seen anything yet,” he chirrups confidently, jabbing an index forwards to punctuate his next move. “Snorlax, show him what we’re made of!” 

Hop’s Snorlax gives a grunt, shifting weight to the side while it reels in its free hand. The resulting move- a perfectly pronounced hammer-arm- is enough to send his Aegislash flying across the stadium. It hits the mesh barrier in a smattering of dust, before sinking to the grass in a battered spiral. It isn’t quite KO’d, but damn if it isn’t close. For a moment, in that sharp conglomerate of pride and reverie, Leon remembers how they got here in the first place; the catalyst of it all. 

_ “50 watts says that I can beat you on a one-in-one match,” Hop had wagered enthusiastically, poking at his takeout, “‘specially if you don’t use your Charizard.” _

_ In return, Leon had balked, halting midway through his bite of curry. “Where’d that come from?” he’d said slowly, though not disagreeably, “Not that it’s a no, but it’s a tad out the blue, isn’t it?”  _

_ Immediately, Hop’s face scrunched, guilt and embarrassment cutting creases into his happiness. It’s a face that Leon absolutely hates to see, and he regretted asking as soon as the expression registered. Nevertheless, his younger brother elaborated, though the cheer had somewhat dispersed: “I never got to battle you in the Championship. I know the stakes aren’t the same, but I thought we could—“  _

_ “Deal,” Leon intercepted, “and I’ll raise you 50 more if you don’t use your Rillaboom.” His words were competitive, unpitying; he knew Hop was a capable trainer, and he always  _ had _ wanted to challenge him.  _

_ Then again, he was also a heavy advocate for good sportsmanship, so he has no idea what foreign energy willed him to say what he had next: “Unless you’re too scared, obviously.” Not only was it a clear jab at his younger brother, but it was sly and snide and maybe even  _ sultry _. It was a tone you’d expect much more from Raihan than you ever would from him, and yet- Hop doesn’t seem to mind it. _

_ In fact, Hop seems to liven up instantly, his smile growing teeth and cheeks gaining a red tint that Leon hadn’t noticed on him prior. “No way! I’ll take you down.” He insists, playful, but eager and earnest, too. _

_ Leon grins, suddenly more animated than he had felt in weeks. “Wyndon Stadium it is, then. It should be empty, so we can have a real match!” _

And thus, that’s how they ended up here. Duking it out in the emptied Wyndon playing field, with nothing but their words and a single Pokémon each. It’s not as tense or cacophonous as a Championship match would be, but it makes up for it in spades with the level of spirited intimacy between them. Leon hasn’t had a match this uniquely enticing in a long, long time; not even in the Battle Tower. 

Speaking of which, his Aegislash seems to think similarly. It emits a defiant noise, unwilling to let the battle end just yet. 

“We’re not giving up just yet, Hopscotch. Last chance to back out!” Leon calls, again in that strange, unprecedented purr- but this time he doesn’t consider taking it back. Though the distance makes it difficult, he swears he can see Hop’s face grow a few shades warmer. Leon doesn’t quite know why, especially not in the heat of battle, but he  _ really _ likes the way his brother looks with that flustered face and slightly stiffened posture.

He likes it even more when Hop opens his mouth to respond and- while the words are avid as ever- has been twinged with a hint of timidity, of shy perturbance. “I can take anything you give me,” he claims, and hastily instructs his Snorlax to stay sharp. 

Leon finds himself grinning again- no, not grinning-  _ smirking _ , and he’s finally starting to get an inkling of how offhandedly inappropriate this is- how  _ flirtatious _ he’s being. 

But- no- you can’t escape from a trainer battle, dammit, he’s seeing this through to the end! Not to mention the fact that- as awful as it sounds- Leon is still kind of  _ enjoying _ it, flirtatious or not.  _ Hop _ obviously does, and… Arceus, maybe this was a mistake, but they’re too far along to stop now. 

“Aegislash, use Sacred Sword! Really make him  _ feel _ it!” Leon exclaims, trying not to wince at the wording, to which his Pokémon swiftly obliges. He’s almost grateful he chose that stoic Steel-type of his, even if it’s on the verge of fainting; if it were any other Pokémon, they would’ve surely gave him a disapproving glance by now. Instead, his Aegislash complies without backlash, thrusting forward to hack at Hop’s Snorlax.

Leon’s baby brother is  _ much _ more cautious than needlessly sacrificing his partner’s health, though. He makes a hasty intervention- still in that timid, ginger voice that makes Leon think things he deserves a good kicking for. Pointing to his Snorlax once more, Hop instructs, “Smother him!”, and the Pokémon lumbers forward to attack.

Now, Leon’s never been very good at holding in his thoughts and opinions. He tends to ramble in any situation that isn’t Pokémon League mandated, and he has trouble slowing down once the ball starts rolling. Even then, though, he thought he’d have more restraint and control than spilling the first thought that pops in his head.  _ Especially _ when that thought involves your brother, and the absolutely sinful tone he’s saying  _ ‘smother him! _ ’ in. It’s not even control at that point, it’s bare human decency.

But Leon learns he doesn’t have that, either. 

Because, as the two Pokémon collide in a blitz of reflected light and bushing fur, Leon feels his mouth opening. “I wish you would,” he admits idiotically,  _ just _ loud enough to surface over the clamor of battle. It takes less than a second before he’s well and thoroughly regretting his own loose lips, so much so that he’s smacking a hand over his mouth just to prevent more depraved remarks from slipping through. 

Leon doesn’t cover his eyes, however, and he gets a full view of his baby brother when the dust of their finishing blows are settled.

Hop stands sheepishly beyond their dually fainted Pokémon, his face reddened so sharply it looks like a tamato berry. He’s yanked his undershirt down to his thighs, and his eyes are wide with shock and infatuation and  _ dear Arceus, those are absolutely bedroom eyes.  _ Leon doesn’t know where he wants to bury himself more: in the ground or somewhere  _ else _ . 

He shouldn’t be reacting to this. He shouldn’t be enabling this, seeing this, being a terrible big brother that prompts his sibling to smother him- he shouldn’t be  _ doing _ this, it has to stop.

So he uses every ounce- no, every individual  _ fiber _ of his being- to resist temptation, to resist the curiously impish way Hop is eyeing him, and calls off whatever perverse shenanigans he’s so inappropriately instigated. 

“It’s a tie,” he says with as much sobriety he can muster, despising the pang of disappointment he feels at renouncing his stupidity. “Both of our Pokémon fainted, see? So- um- it’s a draw.”

Hop’s expression goes blank for a moment or two, taking the second to register such a shift in demeanor and mood. Leon thanks every deity known to man that it turns to an exhilarated neutrality once it clicks, instead of disappointment like he’d first expected it would. No- the gleam in his little brother’s eye hasn’t faded, and Leon has retained his status as a not-completely-abhorrent human being; it’s a victory all around for something that shouldn’t have been a battle in the first place. Actually, now that he’s thinking about it, it’s not a victory at all, since—

“That was ace, Lee!” Hop cheeps out, scrabbling to return his Snorlax out from the playing field. Then, while focusing his attention on the creature’s Pokéball: “You were incredible, too, Snorlax.” 

The gesture reminds Leon to follow suit, bidding earnest thanks to his Aegislash (who, after all, had battled wonderfully) as he returns it to its Pokéball. Then, once he hears the assuring  _ click _ that it’s been successfully recaptured, he goes to smile back at Hop. It’s genuine, but it feels strange- given so soon after the absolute debauchery severed moments prior. It might even discomfort Leon, had he not loved his brother so wholeheartedly. 

Yet he  _ does _ love Hop, more with every passing day, and he can’t imagine his life without him; so he wills himself to remain confident and collected. Now that it’s over, he can go ahead and repent for whatever foreign force possessed him and made him spew those nasty taunts. He can still be a good older brother.

“You were amazing, Hopscotch,” Leon praises- luckily something he can  _ always _ be honest about. “I can tell you were training hard with your Snorlax! If it weren’t for Aegislash’s steel type, I would’ve been  _ pounded _ .”

Though not as prevalent as before, he sees the way Hop’s face darkens with excitement.  _ He really needs to think sentences through before he says them. _

At the very least, he manages an out before he’s in trouble this time around, clearing his throat as soon as he can as to stir Hop’s expression away. “We should probably head home,” follows shortly after, so they don’t have to withstand an awkward silence, and then an explanatory “it’s getting late, and we could both use some rest.” 

Hop mulls it over for just a beat before bobbing his head in agreement. “Snorlax definitely needs some R and R- and I’m sure Aegislash does, too. You’ll call the Corvicab for my hotel room, won’t you?” 

Leon laughs, and prays the awkward tapering isn’t noticeable.  _ The Corvicabs are free, you know,  _ is what he almost says, but then he feels his brother’s eyes piercing him so hopefully and rethinks it. After all, with the deviant thoughts he’d subjected Hop to earlier, he kind of owes the boy whatever the hell he wants. So instead of a chortle and dejection, he gives his brother an optimistic “Sure, Hopscotch,” and an encouraging pat on the shoulder. 

The cab is quick to hail and even quicker to arrive, with just a simple few clicks on the  _ Corvicall  _ app. After the steel beast grounds itself, he helps Hop into the system’s trolley, and for a moment he almost feels normal again. They exchange casually, without tension or nerves, and the words come easy without immediately screwing Leon over.  _ Maybe it was just a one night thing _ , he thinks optimistically as he bids his brother goodbye, reaching out to pull the cab’s door shut. 

That’s when Hop gives his big brother a wide, sultry smile. “If you  _ really _ want me to smother you, just give me the word, Lee,” he purrs out, creating this awful, rough dichotomy of pure enthusiasm and absolutely sacrilegious goading. Leon can’t even get a syllable in- can’t even form a  _ thought _ \- before the operating Corviknight caws, and lifts the cab skywards. 

And when Leon  _ can _ form those thoughts, it’s still not quite right, because he can really only cultivate two. That of which being:  _ I am so fucked,  _ and  _ I should give him the word. _


End file.
